Machine for treating peat to be used as fuel.



Patented Sept. I8, I900.

3 Sheets$heet l,

J. AHRENS.

' (Application filed Mar. 9, 1899.;

MACHINE FOR TREATING PEAT TO BE USED AS FUEL.

(N0 Model.)

No. 657,907. Patented Sept. l8, I900.

J. AHHENS. MACHINE FOR TREATING- PEAT TO BE USED AS FUEL.

(Application filed Mar. 9, 1899.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheei 2.

MSJMK m: minms nrsns co, mummyno" WASHINGTON, u c.

No. 657,907. Patented Sept. I8, 1900.

J. AHRENS.

MACHINE FOB TBEATING FEAT TO BE USED A S FUEL.

(Application filed Mar. 9, 1599. (No ModaL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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Urnrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH AI-IRENS, 'OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR TREATING PEAT TO BE USED AS FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,907, datedSeptember 18, 1900.

Application filed March 9,1899.

To all'wltom, it may concern.-

lle it known that I, JOSEPH AHRENS, a subject of the King of Prussia,residing at Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for TreatingPeat to be Used as Fuel, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is a machine for treating peat to be usedas fuel.

Upon the accompanying drawings, illustrating this invention, Figure 1 isaside elevation of a machine, partially in section. Fig. 2 is a plan,the vertical borers not being shown. line (L (L of Fig. 1. Fig. LSllOWSthe drum for carrying the peat blocks with the tools by which the peatis acted upon in perspective.

The blocks of peat to he treated are periodically placed in a hopper a,so that they arrive upon a slide 1), by the advance of which to the leftthe said blocks are brought under the action of a pair of saws c. Theslide 5 receives a reciprocating motion from a lever c, pivoted at (Z,which is connected at the top .0 the slide by the link fat g.- Throughthe slotted part 71 of the lever e a pin 2' projects, which is securedto a sliding rod is, suitably fitted in hearings on the framework of themachine and moved to the right by means of a cam m, fitted on thespindle Z. By this arrangement the lever e, and thus the slide 5, ismoved from the position shown in Fig. 1 likewise toward the right. Thereturn of the slide into the position shown in'Fig. 1 is effected bymeans of a cam 0 upon the spindle H, which presses against a pin orrollerp and so moves the lever 6 toward the left. When the slide hasbeen moved into the position shown in Fig. 1, it arrives, with the blockof peat, between a pair of saws c. The saws are secured on a commonspindle g, which is rotated by means of bevel gearing driven from abelt-pulley s and spindle '6. When the block of peat has been cut to thedesired breadth by means of the pair of saws c, the slide b is moved, bymeans of the mechanism above described, toward the-right, so as toarrive under the hopper a again, and the second block is dropped in,which is likewise moved to the left between the pair of saws c, at thesame time advancing the first piece of Fig. 3 represents a cross-sectionon Serial No. 708.327. (No model.)

peat, so that it arrives between a pair of saws at, by which it is cutto the desired thickness. This second pair it are blade-saws, as will beseen from Figs. 1 and 2, and are reciprocated backward and forward inslides v, of dovetail form. The slides v are both con nected to a rod w,which, receiving motion from an eccentric a upon the spindle t, movesthe slides, and thus the pair of saws it, as before mentioned. Insteadof blade-sawsit circular saws can of course be used. As the blockof peatis being cut to the desired thickness it passes gradually onto the drumb, which, as will be seen from Fig. 4, is provided with a number ofgrooves c'-as, for example, six or eight-each of which corresponds tothe breadth of the cut block of peat. This drum 5' is supported upon anaxis (1, which is fitted in hearings on the framework of the machine.When the block of peat arrives in one of the grooves c, it rests beneatha group of borers, which are rotated by a belt-pulley e in a suitablemanner. These borers f are fitted in a common bearing-block g, to whichis connected a lever t", pivoted at h and connected at one end by a rod70 with a lever m, having its fulcrum at i. The arm m is acted upon by acam n upon the spindle Z, which raises the lever m in rotating, and thusby means of the rod 7; so moves the lever t" that the other end(lepresses the bearing-block g with the borers f, by which means theblock of peat beneath the borers is perforated. As soon as the borers fhave passed through the block of peat another double-armed lever 0' isso actuated from the spindle Z by means of a suitable cam 0 that theplate 19 is depressed. This plate carries a number of rods which slidein the interior of the hollow cylindrical borersf, and upon beingdepressed with the plate 19 eject the pieces of peat out of the borersf, so that the openings of the borers are again free. In order to avoidthe possibility of the holes thus made in the block of turf fromremaining stopped, it is of advantage to so perforate the drum b thatthe pieces acted upon by the rods fall into the drum, from whence theyare laterally led off. When the borer is permitted to rise to itsoriginal position by the further rotation of the cam n, the drum 1) ismoved one division farther, so that an groove or recess arrives in thepath of 5 block of peat and the first block art The first block of peat.having arrived at the borers o w,

which are arranged opposite to each other, the group of borers '0' onthe left are moved to the right until the ends have penetrated i throughhalf the length of the block. This motion is transmitted from thespindle 1-, on 1 which a rod a is eccentrically fitted, the front end ofwhich en a es a lever b i'votetl at,

d supporting-frame f of the group of borers '0 This lever 19 is soconnected with thee by means of a link 6 that the lever 19 receives abackward-and-forward swinging motion about 61 and the borers n, whichare rotated by the belt-pulley g and spindle h, "are pressed into theofthe same.

block of peat or pulled out i After the block of peat has been bored outfrom the left to the right to half of 1 its length in the manner abovedescribed the group of borers o retreats, whereas the group w advances.This latter group to, like the group 12', receives abackward-and-forward motion from a lever b which is connected by t alink 6 with the borers w, in order to complete the horizontalperforations commenced by the borers o. the lever 19 is not effected byan eccentric hearing, but by a curved groove t arranged in a cylinder 70on the spindle 5'. When the The swinging motion 'of' borers o and tohave both been withdrawn from the perforations back to their normalposition, the drum b is again somewhat rotated by means of the pawl q,so that the perforated block of peat is now brought to a'set of saws.This set of saws consists of six blades, of which the two outer, t servefor v cutting the block of peat to the prescribed length, whereas theshorter saws m are arranged to cut slitsin the blockin order to enablethe convenient breaking upof the block into pieces.

For this purpose the drum 1) is provided with corresponding grooves n Bythe further intermittent rotation of the drum 1) all the blocks of peatarriving on the slide 1) are subjected in the prescribed order to theoperations above described,whereas the block first-treated, prevented bya guard 0 Fig. 4, from falling out, is conducted to an exitopening,through which it falls as soon as the groove in the drum containing itarrives perpendicularly beneath the axis d. The spindle s, whichreciprocates the borers 10', receives its motion from mitewgearing 13the one miter-wheel of which is fitted on the spin- Which is driven bymeans of worm r from the spindle :5 through the agency of thebelt-pulley t It is not absolutely necessary that the motion of theseparate parts be effected by means of the levers above described, andshown in the drawings, as any other lever mechanism may be used.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. Ina machine for treating peat, the combination of a slide upon whichthe blocks of peat are fed, a pair of saws to trim two sides of theblock, another pairof saws to trim two other sides of the block, arotating drum beyond the saws provided with seats receiving the trimmedblock and boring devices adjacent to the drum for perforating the block,substantially as described.

2. In a machine for treating peat, the combination of a slide upon whichthe blocks of peat are fed, a pair of saws to trim two sides of theblock, another pairof saws to trim two other sides of the block, arotating drum beyond the saws and provided with seats receiving thetrimmed block, boring devices adjacent to the drum for perforating theblock, and a set of saws adjacent to the drum to cut slits in the block.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

J OHANNES HITZEROTH, WOLDEMAR HAUPT.

